Meizu MX2 Now Official with 4.4’’ Screen and Quad-Core CPU

Today, Meizu Mobile has made its new Meizu MX2 smartphone official in Beijing, after having announced last month that the phone would be launched today.

The new device was announced as the successor of the handset vendor’s Meizu MX, with a nice range of enhancements packed inside, as well as with better hardware specifications. The new mobile phone was made official with a 4.4-inch touchscreen display on the front, capable of delivering a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution (HD+). It also offers a 347ppi pixel density. The smartphone features an incredibly thin bezel and is made of stainless steel. A physical button is also present on the device’s front (which actually makes it resemble the Apple iPhone a lot). The handset’s covers are made of plastic, and Meizu decided to go for black and white color combinations for it (a black front and a white back plate). Meizu MX2 was unveiled with a 1.6GHz MX5S quad-core processor inside, complemented by 2GB of RAM for increased performance capabilities.

The handset also comes to the market with an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with support for recording videos at full HD resolution (1080p at 30fps). Furthermore, it comes with a front camera to enable users to make video calls while on the go. The specifications list of the new mobile phone also includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with built-in GPS receiver, and support for 3G networks. Meizu MX2 is powered by Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and features the handset vendor’s Flyme 2.0 user interface loaded on top. The device was announced for the Chinese market for the time being, and there’s no info available on whether it will be launched in other countries as well. Unfortunately, Meizu hasn’t provided specifics on the handset’s price tag either, though it should unveil these details soon.

Meizu MX2
Image credits to Weibo/Meizu

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BlackBerry 9620 at Nextel

A new BlackBerry smartphone has made an appearance online today, namely the BlackBerry 9620, which can now be seen on Nextel’s website.

Featuring a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor and 768MB of RAM, the new device also sports a 2.44-inch display that can deliver a 480 x 360 pixel resolution. Moreover, the new mobile phone arrives on shelves with 2GB of internal memory, complemented by a microSD memory card slot. It also sports a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, along with WiFi connectivity, built-in GPS receiver and PTT support. It runs under BlackBerry OS 7.1.

For the time being, no specific info on when the new device will arrive on shelves has been provided, yet the wireless carrier notes on its website that December will be the lucky month for enthusiasts. Details on its pricing have yet to be made official.

BlackBerry 9620 at Nextel
Image credits to Nextel

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Fujitsu ARROWS V F-04E

Today, Fujitsu and NTT DOCOMO officially announced the upcoming availability of ARROWS V F-04E on the wireless carrier’s network starting with November 28, 2012.

The new mobile phone will arrive on shelves with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor packed inside, as well as with support for the operator’s LTE network. The handset was also announced with 64GB of internal memory, as well as with a 13.1-megapixel camera on the back, and with a 2,420mAh battery inside. ARROWS V F-04E should provide users with great performance capabilities, courtesy of its NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-Core CPU, the wireless carrier notes.

There is also a 4.7-inch HD display that users will enjoy, along with DLNA capabilities, Bluetooth4.0, WiFi, NFC and the like. The smartphone also features IPX5/8 water resistance and IP5X dust resistance, as well as infrared communication capabilities.

Fujitsu ARROWS V F-04E
Image credits to NTT DoCoMo

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Huawei Ascend W1 New Photos Emerges

Chinese mobile phone maker Huawei is expected to make its first Windows Phone 8 smartphones official in the beginning of the next year, yet we can already make an idea of what the devices might look like.

The company has been rumored to plan the release of Huawei Ascend W1 and W2 next year, and the former can now be admired in a new leaked photo, available courtesy of WPXAP.com (via WMPoweruser), next to other Windows phone handsets coming from Nokia and HTC. The smartphone is expected to arrive on shelves with a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen, along with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal memory.

Moreover, the new mobile phone is also said to sport a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, while being powered by a 2,000 mAh battery.

Huawei Ascend W1 next to other Windows Phones
Image credits to wpxap.com

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Dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy Note II Now Official in China

Samsung China has just announced the upcoming availability of the Galaxy Note II. Nothing unusual here. However, the Chinese Galaxy Note II comes with dual-SIM capability.

The smartphone supports both microSIMs and standard SIMs. It will be available for purchase beginning December 3 for 5699 yuan outright, which is about $915/€710. Aside from dual-SIM ability, the smartphone does not come with anything new in comparison with the international version.

The phone will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box. In addition, it will pack a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. Obviously, the main selling point of the Samsung Galaxy Note II is the stunning 5.5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720 x 1280 pixels), and features Corning Gorilla Glass 2 coating.

Samsung Galaxy Note II
Image credits to Samsung China

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Mac Mini 2012 with Ultrafast 450 Mb/s Wi-Fi

The latest Mac minis introduced by Apple in September boast an unadvertised ultra-fast Wi-Fi capable of transferring data at 450 Mb/s – the same as the MacBook Pro and iMac.

French site Macg.co ran some tests on Apple’s Late 2012 Mac Mini and found that it features enhanced Wi-Fi antennas, which translates into Wi-Fi speeds of up to 450 Mb/s. Some conditions need to be met to create this ultra-fast wireless but according to the French publication, both Apple’s Time Capsule and Airport Extreme will do the job just fine. Apple this year updated the Mac mini with third-generation dual-core Intel Core i5 and quad-core Intel Core i7 processors with integrated graphics up to 65 percent faster than its predecessor.

The computer ships standard with 4GB of 1600 MHz memory with support for up to 16GB. Apple also threw in an additional USB 3.0 port (for a total of three), a Thunderbolt, HDMI, SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire 800 ports.

Mac mini WiFi tests
Image credits to macg.co

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No Official Jolla Sailfish OS Support for Nokia N9

Jolla’s Sailfish operating system won’t be ported to Nokia’s N9 smartphone, at least not officially, the company has announced on Twitter.

The startup said that it cannot deliver official support for Nokia’s products, but that there’s nothing preventing enthusiasts from bringing the platform to the device. “We cannot support Nokia's product officially. Technically there is nothing preventing for porting to eg. N9,” the company said.

Owners of the MeeGo-based smartphone who feel that the new operating system would breathe new life to N9 might actually be able to download and install a Sailfish port to it in the not too distant future. However, no specific info on the matter has emerged. “Sailfish OS can be technically ported to N9, but experience is not same than Jolla devices,” the company notes in another tweet.

Nokia N9
Image credits to Nokia

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Nokia Transport Updated for Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and 8

The Finnish handset maker Nokia has just announced that it has updated its Transport mobile application for Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and 8.

In fact, the application has received a major update for Windows Phone 8 platform, whereas Windows Phone 7 and Symbian users will be able to download and install new beta versions of Nokia Transport. Both Windows Phone 7 and 8 versions of the application have received important UI improvements, which makes Nokia Transport more intuitive and easier to use. Moreover, devs added a new segment map that is said to provide a detailed map view for each part of a route the user chooses to follow. For those users who like to plan in advance, Nokia introduced a new feature that allows them to enter a date when they want to meet their friends, along with a departure time to view the route options. Select the preferred route and the application will let you know when you need to leave from home, which station you need to get to and the transport you need to catch in order to reach to the meeting place in time.

Nokia has added more features that will enable Transport app users to choose to display distance in miles or kilometers, as well as the latest info on departure times. According to devs, “Nokia Transport for Windows Phone now makes it easier to find your previous destinations and lets you easily delete your destination history if you prefer to keep it clean.” The beta version of Nokia Transport for Symbian has been improved with a better user experience and search function. Moreover, the application has received the ability to get coverage update OTA (over the air). Keep in mind that the Windows Phone 8 application is now available for download via Windows Phone Store, whereas Symbian and Windows Phone 7 users can grab their versions via Nokia Beta Labs.

Nokia Transport
Image credits to Nokia

Read more at http://nokia.ly/Y63gun.

Building on its smart, easy-to-use interface, Nokia Transport (v 3.0) for Windows Phone 8 introduces new features to make it even easier to simply glance and go. A new segment map provides a detailed map view for each part of your route that orients to where you are and shows where you need to be next. What's more, Nokia Transport lets you look at future routes and departure times, so you can plan ahead for your trip across town.
Video credits to heremaps

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Jolla Sailfish SDK Detailed, Built on Qt and Mer SDK Tools

Following the official unveiling of its new Sailfish mobile operating system, Jolla detailed the Sailfish SDK today, offering more info on what developers need to know on the building of applications for the new platform.

Jolla’s Sailfish OS has been built on top of Mer project and Qt, while the modern interface it proposes to users was built with QML and QtQuick, designed to offer support for the standard QtMobility APIs. However, Jolla will continue to use the MeeGo API (via the Mer core), including Qt 4.7 [Qt47], Qt Mobility 1.0 [QtMob], and OpenGL ES 2.0 [OGLES]. The company also notes that the Sailfish SDK was built on the underlying Qt and Mer SDK tools. It is developed openly and the work is done in the Mer Project. The Sailfish SDK is lightly customized and sports a series of Sailfish components. “The Sailfish SDK consists of QtCreator, a virtualised Mer Platform SDK and Sailfish components,” the company notes. “Code is developed in Qt-Creator on the host device; then, through shared storage, the code is passed to the virtualised Mer SDK where it compiles inside the Virtual Machine.”

Those who would like to learn more on the Sailfish SDK will have to go to this page on the platform’s wiki for info on how to build their own copy of QtCreator. The underlying source code can be found on this webpage. “It's early days for building applications on Sailfish OS; at the moment you have to build your own copy of QtCreator and then work with the people in #mer and #nemomobile on irc,” Jolla explains. The company also notes that they are using Qt with the Sailfish UI components and that QtCreator plugins will soon become available for download for other people to take advantage of as well. The developer kit is self-contained with no user-data. Its being produced in the SDK allows people to build their own flavor of the kit.

“You get all the power of a complete OS in an SDK (eg we're running a small web application framework to permit SDK management and this allows other interesting features too),” Jolla continues.

Sailfish OS on Nokia N950
Image to MTV 3 Finland

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Root Your Sony Xperia AX (SO-01E)

Xperia AX (SO-01E) is one of the most appealing devices that Sony has launched in Japan on NTT DoCoMo’s network with Google’s Android operating system on board.

The handset became available for purchase last week, and today a rooting method is already available for it. Unfortunately for those interested in rooting their devices, it seems that the method is not a simple one, and that users without experience in the matter should stay away from it.

People still interested in getting through with this will find all the necessary instructions over at Xperia-Freaks (apparently, they flashed the AU ROM from Xperia VL, rooted the device, and then flashed it back to DoCoMo firmware). The process seems rather unsafe, and users should wait for a simpler rooting method to arrive. We encourage them to leave the phone as it is, since achieving root will also void warranty.

Sony Xperia AX (SO-01E)
Image credits to NTT DoCoMo

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